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A nation’s shame: hundreds of girls sexually abused by networks of men

May 9 2012, 1:01am, The Times

Hundreds of girls in children’s homes are being sexually abused by organised networks of men, The Times reveals today.

England’s children’s homes, which care for 1,800 girls, have recorded 631 incidents of girls being sold for sex during the past five years, including 187 in the past ten months.

The Times has learnt that in recent years two girls from children’s homes in Manchester and Rochdale died in separate incidents linked to their sexual abuse by men of Pakistani heritage.

The scale of the abuse came to light as nine members of a sex-grooming network were convicted yesterday. Liverpool Crown Court was told during their trial that a 15-year-old girl from another Rochdale children’s home was used for sex by 25 Asian men in one…